Immigrant investor programs are programs that allow individuals to more quickly obtain residence or citizenship of a country in return for making qualifying investments.

Broadly, the programs offer either citizenship by investment ("golden passport" or "cash-for-passports"), residence by investment ("golden visa"), or a hybrid with immediate residence followed by accelerated citizenship.

Program applicants must usually fulfill multiple qualification criteria. Investment can take a variety of forms including a contribution to government funds; purchase of qualifying real estate (for example, in specific government-sanctioned projects); investment in a qualifying business (for example, in a specific industry); or creation of a set number of jobs.

A growing number of countries offer immigrant investor programs, with approximately one quarter of all countries issuing such visas as of 2015. As of 2023 about half^{[of what?]} went to Turkey.

Citizenship by investment programs enable the applicant to rapidly obtain citizenship with no required residence period, or only a short nominal period measured in days or weeks. These are often known as "golden passports" or "cash-for-passport" programs, offering visa-free travel and possible tax advantages.

As of mid-2023, more than twenty countries had citizenship by investment programs. These included five countries in the Caribbean (Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis and Saint Lucia), as well as Cambodia, Egypt, Jordan, Malta, North Macedonia, Turkey, Vanuatu and Nauru.

Countries that have historically offered citizenship by investment include Austria, Cyprus (closed), Ireland (closed), Moldova (closed) and Montenegro (closed 31 December 2022).

Annually, an estimated 50,000 people, including family members of those who apply, obtain citizenship through investment programs, worldwide.